Winter Memories
by Hakkari
Summary: It's been years since she's touched the snow, and an old enemy realizes the truth about her rival. Years after the ending of Portal 2. Major spoilers for the game, and heavily implied CavexCaroline. One-shot.


"Snow!"

He chuckled, slowly pulling on a coat as his wife darted out the door. She was clothed in nothing but a light tanktop, the heater within the house set as high as a hot summer day. Still, outside it was much colder, and though he worried for her health, he knew she'd at least insist she was fine. Still, though, it wouldn't be as amusing when she caught a cold from exposure. "Chell, at least pull on a jacket if you're going to be outside long. I believe the kids have more sense than you right now." They were still tucked into their warm beds, their eldest daughter, Carol, claiming to be 'protesting against the cold'.

She turned, pouting, though anyone could tell her expression was an act. Her gray eyes were still shining brightly. "Oh, come on! I've been through _far_ worse than a little snow! Do you think it'll snow on Christmas, Richard?" Her sudden change in subject and cheerfully hyper attitude made him laugh again. This Chell was definitely not the same Chell he had found sitting beside a wheat field, starved and terrified, with only a cube as company. It had been awhile until she had even been able to speak or even interact with anyone or anything besides the strange burnt cube that she seemed to revere.

"Well, they say it should, but you know how reliable the forecasts are," Chell twirled with a cheerful cry, flopping face first into the snow and completely ignoring the last part of his statement, "I'm curious, though; who's more excited? You or Michael?" Their five year old son was determined to make the most of his first Christmas with even a chance of snow.

Again, she ignored his words, flopping onto her back and spreading her arms, creating a snow angel before looking up at him. "I haven't had a white Christmas since I was eight, you know? That's... really all I remember about my childhood, except for-" Chell froze suddenly, the light in her eyes fading for a moment before flickering back to life, "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Still, though, it would be nice to see another one!" She scrambled to her feet with the agility that made their neighbours jokingly call her the 'cat lady', rushed over to Richard, and flung her arms around his neck with a joyful laugh. It was only then that she actually began to shiver. With a small smile, he took her hand.

"Come on, let's go inside. I'll make some hot chocolate for you."

A P E R T U R E S C I E N C E

Snow. Perfect, just what she had _always_ wanted. The two bots in front of her seemed almost scared of the foreign white material falling from the sky. She let out a soft, dry chuckle. The taller robot, P-Body, shifted his gaze towards her while the thicker, Atlas, only tilted his head in confusion. "What are you two staring at? Shouldn't you be, I don't know, _doing_ something?" Again they stared blankly at her, and she cursed inwardly. They were waiting for assignments, obviously!

She wasn't exactly sure where her mind had been lately.

"You two could... well..." Atlas boredly began to tap P-Body's arm, infuriating her, "How about you two go see if the crushers in Chamber Fifty-five are still jammed? With your _amazing_ cooperation skills, I'm sure Blue won't let you be destroyed, right, Orange?" The two bots quivered, hesitating until she swung her body towards them. They scurried away quickly, tripping over each other in their haste to get away from their matriarch. Finally, she had some alone time.

And then the snow just had to go and interrupt it.

GLaDOS sighed, shifting her head to look up at the cloudy sky above her chamber. After the battle with Wheatley and allowing Chell to go loose, she had returned to her former position in the facility. The ceiling hadn't been fixed yet, though. It should have been done _ages_ ago, actually. But that annoying, frustrating part of her mind prevented her from doing so. Told her that the sunlight was beautiful and that rain was equally so. How could she have been formed from such a ditzy woman?

As another flake landed on the cold steel that made up her body, a memory flashed within her. She sighed, giving into the temptation to look at Caroline's past. It could get quite interesting, sometimes, especially when Cave Johnson was involved. Seeing as Atlas and P-Body were both occupied, and her other test subjects soundly asleep in their chambers, she set herself into sleep mode and let the 'dreams' take over.

_"Merry Christmas, sir! I've made you a cup of coffee, just in case you came into the office today!" She was chirpy and cheerful as always, wearing a Santa hat and holding out a steaming cup to her boss. He looked surprised, though the feeling seemed to be pleasant enough. After a few moments he took the cup, sipping the hot beverage and nodding in approval to his secretary._

_"Thank you, Caroline. I do have to ask, though, why are you here? No one else came in today, you're aware? It's Christmas, time for family and friends!" She chuckled._

_"What about science, sir? You didn't mention science." He scowled, though it was in good nature._

_"It's never __**not**__ time for science, Caroline, and you know it! But in all seriousness, why aren't you out with your friends? Have a special boy you want to be with?" Cave sounded particularly bitter about the last part. Caroline tilted her head, frowning slightly._

_"Mr. Johnson, you know as well as I that I'm not in any sort of relationship with anything but science. Of course I'm not out with some... boy! Besides, I'd rather be here with you, sir. You're decent company, if you don't mind me saying, sir. Anyway, we need to get the repulsion gel ready to test, right?" He smiled._

_"That would be great, Caroline. Could you bring me my papers? We have a long of work to do!"_

The memory faded out, only to be replaced with another one. Though she had no true way of knowing when this event took place, it seemed to GLaDOS that it happened a few years later, with Johnson beaming proudly at his secretary. She was rubbing her stomach, for some reason.

Wait, was she-? No, there was no way that _she_ would have ever contributed to populating the disgusting human race! And yet...

_"Congratulations, Cave, Caroline! Do you know whether or not it's a boy or girl yet?" A rather hyperactive young woman - an intern, according to Caroline's mind - was leaping up and down next to her boss. Cave only laughed, shrugging._

_"We'll leave that up to science, Amanda. Now, if you'll leave us alone for a bit?" He winked, and she left without a protest. He turned back to Caroline, his expression concerned. GLaDOS could feel her confusion, and she spoke._

_"Sir..." His eyebrows arched expectantly, "..Cave?" _

_"I've always dedicated my life to science, Caroline, you know that, right?" She nodded, hesitating, scared, "However, I've never had... this... happen before. So... I'm not sure of the right direction to take. But, if you see me through to the end of this, I'll see you through too. Is that okay?" She blinked, surprised._

_"Of... of course, sir. Um, I... I don't know what to say..." He chuckled._

Again the memory faded, leaving GLaDOS a bit frustrated. What had happened to the child? Did Cave burn it with lemons? Another memory arrived to deliver the answers she desired. Hungrily she looked within, then tried to draw herself away.

There was sobbing and blood. The child was dead, miscarried. In her shock GLaDOS barely heard the doctor's words. Something about... not being able to have another child without health issues? She didn't know. Even for someone as sadistic as her, this scene was too much. Or perhaps that was the Caroline part of her talking. Death to any human being should have been wonderful to her. But this, this was _wrong_, different from the crushing of human bones in her test chambers. She took the memory away as quickly as she could, watching the next one and only hoping that it was a bit happier.

Oh, how she wished she could have looked away. For this was more horrifying than even the miscarriage of Caroline's - her? - child.

_"Mama, mama! It's snowin', look!" Caroline only chuckled slightly, looking fondly upon the small child. She was Asian in origin, short brown hair tied into an even shorter ponytail. She was still in her pajamas, as most young children were on Christmas day. The signature Aperture Science icon was placed directly in the center of her top, as if her adopted daughter was nothing more than some sort of advertising board._

_"Yes, Chell, it is. It's called a white Christmas, you know. But why not look under the tree, hm? There's lots of presents, just for you! Mister Johnson even gave you a special present," Chell's nose crinkled slightly at the name, and Caroline gave a small laugh, "No, sweetie, it's not gel this time, I promise." The child's face softened at this, and she looked up eagerly at her mother._

_"Good, cause that stuff was nasty! All it did was bounce all over the place! What'd he get for me this year? I wanna know!" She was bouncing up and down eagerly, reaching out as Caroline held out a crudely wrapped box. The company had been suffering from financial issues recently, and it was generous of Cave to even give his secretary's daughter a present. As she ripped apart the paper and tore the lid off the box, she gasped, her eyes lighting up happily as she pulled out a lab coat emblazoned with the Aperture icon._

_Chell pulled it on eagerly, bouncing about as if she had landed on a patch of repulsion gel. "Now I can be just like you an' Mister Johnson, right? I'm a scientist now, too!" Caroline's smile faded slightly, and she nodded with false enthusiasm. She wasn't sure that she wanted her daughter to grow up into any sort of scientist. Cave hadn't been well, and the few remaining employees he had left blamed his condition on the moon rocks used in the conversion gel. _

_"Can we work on that project now, please? I wanna make a potato battery! I bet no one else is doing that!" She was snapped out of her thoughts by her daughter's pleading voice. Caroline forced another smile, then nodded._

_"Sure, sweetie. Let's go start on that battery, then..."_

The memory faded, jolting GLaDOS out of sleep mode. "She was so familiar... Chell... Chell... Wait a minute..." The face of the child had matched...

No. Nononononono.

It couldn't be. Had she been putting _her own child_ in such dangerous situations, taunting her about her weight and about the adoption that she herself had put her through? The song the turrets had been singing... it all made sense now...

A familiar chirping snapped her out of her revelation. Both Atlas and P-Body had returned, with P-Body looking worse for wear despite obvious repairs. He looked rather agitated, bouncing from one foot to another while waiting for new orders. GLaDOS sighed, and without hesitation sent them to the storage room to fetch her a portal gun.

She was sure that Chell would just _love_ it as an early Christmas present.

**A/N: I know it's not Christmas, but I made a Christmas themed story =P I'm not a huge fan of the Caroline-is-Chell's-mother theory that's circulating, but it does kind of make sense. Sort of. In a roundabout way. **

**Anyway, Portal 2 was **_**amazing**_**, one of the best games I played in a while. I was blown away. And Cave Johnson made me laugh with everything he said, including the lemons speech xD Such a shame that I don't really have a grasp on his character, though. I wish I could have done more for such an amazing character. GLaDOS is out of character too, I think, but I really just had to alter her a bit to make it fit.**

**Well, reviews are as always loved, and I might be doing more Portal fanfiction. Keyword being 'might', depending on the reaction I get x3**


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